


Over the Years

by ReminiscentRevelry



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Gen, Introspection, No Dialogue, Present Tense, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:15:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22564597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReminiscentRevelry/pseuds/ReminiscentRevelry
Summary: Roy Mustang has met with the Elric brothers hundreds of times over their time in the military.
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric & Roy Mustang, Edward Elric & Roy Mustang
Comments: 5
Kudos: 145





	Over the Years

The first time Roy Mustang met Edward Elric, he was a small, double-amputee eleven year old with guilt on his shoulders and dead eyes. His brother was a suit of armor begging for forgiveness while Ed was silent, the dead look in his eyes being replaced by a determined fire with every word Mustang spoke.

The second time he met him, he had two automail limbs and could transmute by clapping his hands together. The fire in his eyes had brightened, stubborn flames and sheer nerve making him threaten the Fuhrer during his exam.

The third time he met him, he had a nonchalant facade and a cocksure grin. He knew he’d become a State Alchemist and took his title and watch with glee masked by arrogance.

The fourth time he met Ed he introduced him to his team with some amount of pride at the the camaraderie he’d built, the different strengths he’s found in people. Hawkeye helps Ed with his paperwork and became the clear favorite among Mustang’s team. He didn’t seem to mind the others and listened to them dutifully, but he deferred to Hawkeye for his questions and concerns. Despite Ed’s attempts not to show it, he was nervous around Mustang, nervous about the military and superior officers and respect and loyalty.

The fifth time he met him, he’s in the middle of a competition with Havoc to see who can throw the most coffee beans into the trash bin. Havoc wins, barely, and switches his attention straight to Ed, offering the dumbstruck twelve year old a handful of beans to try and land in the bin. He’s not as good as Havoc or Mustang, but he’s decent once he gets in the swing of it. Figuring out how to arc his throw, how much force to put behind it, how much speed to use is a good exercise in spatial awareness and accuracy. Ed manages to get Hawkeye to try it, something Havoc and Mustang have never been able to do - though, they don’t have a twelve year old’s innocent eyes to help them - and the sniper leaves them all in the dust, landing every bean with a precision Havoc can match one in five times.

He meets with Ed several more times, training him as quickly - and loosely - as he can in military etiquette. He knows Ed will be more of a researcher rather than an active Dog of the Military, but people higher up than him and more stringent than Grumman will expect Ed to know how to salute and respect decorum. He makes sure Ed knows how to read a soldier’s uniform for their rank, how to salute properly, how to stand with his spine straight and heels together. He puts more effort into the lessons on things that Ed will actually use, that will help him - writing reports, research summaries, common codes and ciphers. Ed already knows the basics of alchemy, knows that most research is coded heavily to hide the information, and Mustang is surprised at how quickly he’s able to decrypt the notes Armstrong had offered for the lessons. When Mustang offers some of his own notes for Ed to try and decrypt he doesn’t bother hiding his shock when Ed figures them out even faster. 

These lessons are when he and Ed figure out their relationship, their tendency to bite back and forth at each other with an undercurrent of respect. 

One day Ed looks at his gloves for twenty minutes before offering his theory on how Mustang’s alchemy works and is almost spot on. Mustang makes him swear to never use it, never try it, and the darkness in his eyes and the serious tone he has, so different from the person he’d gotten used to makes Ed shrink and agree, golden eyes almost frightened when Mustang tells him that he’ll give him a court martial if he tries Flame Alchemy. Mustang almost feels bad for scaring him, worries momentarily that he’s lost Ed’s trust, but the first time he’d tried his alchemy he’d almost killed himself and Ed is so much _younger_ than he had been and his mind drifts to the blood-soaked floor in Resembool, the suit of armor with soulfire eyes and the half-dead child in a wheelchair. But Ed just blinks the fear from his eyes and tilts his head and asks how he’d fight if he lost his gloves or if the circle was broken. His curiosity outweighs his fear and Mustang wonders if one day, if it’ll save him or kill him.

One day Mustang grouses at Ed’s poor handwriting, his rudimentary spelling and grammar when he’s editing a practice report and Ed snaps at him with more rageful flames behind his eyes than Mustang’s ever seen. He takes a look between the awkward grip Ed has the pen in and his automail hand clenched in a fist and leaves it be. A glance at Resembool’s records tell him what Falman suspected after a look at the report - Ed had left school after third grade. However advanced the alchemy texts he’d read were, grammar rules were often ignored and some basic rules needed to be taught. He leaves it to Falman, knowing he had the patience necessary for such lessons, and Ed's reports improve with every lesson.

One day Grumman drops by while Mustang is in a meeting and Ed is waiting on the couch. He sets up the chessboard and offers Ed a game, asking him about his alchemy, his hometown, his friends and family. He doesn’t ask what made Ed go for the military, doesn’t ask why he has two automail limbs, doesn’t push when Ed goes quiet at the thought of his younger brother waiting in Resembool. Mustang comes back to Grumman teaching Ed how to play chess, explaining basic tactics and strategy. He beats Ed in a few moves and leaves the office with a wave to Mustang. Ed asks who the weird old guy was and Mustang realizes that _of course_ Grumman didn’t introduce himself. He drops onto the couch and puts his head in his hands before explaining that that was _his_ boss and calling him Gramps or Old Man Grumman was _not allowed,_ no matter what he might hear from the other soldiers.

At Hawkeye and Havoc’s insistence, he lets them teach Ed proper gun safety. He didn’t request a uniform for Ed and he doesn’t plan to request a gun for him, but Hawkeye is firm in her stance that he needs to know how to handle a gun even if he doesn’t have one of his own. They use standard pistols to teach him - trigger safety, reloading, shooting, basic care. Catalina drops by to help, showing Ed how to disassemble a shotgun and laughing when the kick almost knocks him over. 

Havoc wonders out loud if they should teach Ed hand-to-hand, to which Ed scoffs and tells him he _already_ knew how to fight. Havoc frowns but Mustang tells Ed to prove it, letting Ed onto a training mat for the first time since he joined the military. He knocks Havoc flat within a minute, using martial arts that the military doesn’t bother teaching. Everyone’s mouth is agape and Mustang stops himself from asking Ed where he learned to fight like that when he hears him mutter that Al would have been a better sparring partner if the soldiers were going to be wimps. He sees the corner of Hawkeye’s mouth twitch in a smile and tells Ed not to hurt any of the soldiers while Havoc groans about punk kids and bruised ribs.

The first time Roy Mustang properly meets Alphonse Elric, Ed has come back from a mission to a mining town with his automail half-broken and a bandage around his arm. Al is nervous going into the military base, even more so when Ed kicks open Mustang’s door with a shouted greeting, but Hawkeye greets him warmly and Havoc grumbles that no _wonder_ Al is a better sparring partner if he’s made of _metal._ Ed throws Hawkeye’s stapler at Havoc and nails him in the cheek while shouting at him not to talk about his brother like that and Mustang just shrugs at Hawkeye, who rolls her eyes. They knew what had happened to the boys, even if the rest of the team didn’t. If Ed being violent and loud stopped more questions about Al’s armor, then they’d roll with it. The rest of the team just shares nervous looks while Havoc rubs his bruising cheek and Ed tells Al they need to make a report before they can head to Resembool to fix his arm, giving him the invitation he needed into the Colonel’s office. 

The second time he meets Al he finds him pacing outside the OR in East City’s military hospital. Through his panicked explanations he discerns that the brothers got into a fight with a gang and Ed got shot in the leg. The doctor comes out and explains more concisely, precisely, that Edward had been grazed by a bullet on his right calf and slashed on his left shoulder and only needed stitches and bed rest and a lesson in defensive fighting if he was going to make a habit of getting into scraps. Al relaxes once he sees his brother is alright and Mustang gives them a moment to make sure each other is okay before giving Ed the necessary scolding.

The third time he meets him outside the military base well into the night, reading a book under a lamp post. Al explains to him that he can’t actually sleep and Mustang walks with him back to the dorms, explaining mental exhaustion as gently as he can. Alphonse isn’t military, he reminds himself - he’s a civilian, however closely tied to his brother’s research he may be. Al doesn’t have to heed his orders. To his surprise, Al listens anyway, taking Mustang’s advice of meditation and relaxing activities - puzzles and fiction books and radio programs - to heart.

Over the years, he meets with the Elric brothers hundreds of times. Missions, meetings, reports, arguments, for four years he sees them frequently, from East City to Central. Sometimes he goes weeks, months without seeing them, relying only on Alphonse to call the base with Ed’s military code to update him on their progress. Sometimes they stay in East City and distract Mustang from his paperwork with alchemical theories, filling his office with notes and research that his team learned not to disturb. He and Ed don’t bicker or banter when they’re talking shop, instead focused solely on their alchemy and relying on Hawkeye and Alphonse to remind them to eat and sleep.

The last time he sees Alphonse he’s running off with Ed, following a thread of hope in the form of Xingese Alkahestry and a little girl with a panda bear.

The last time he sees Edward he’s being deconstructed overtop a staring grey eye miles beneath Central Command, surrounded by former Fuhrer candidates with Scar and Hawkeye. Ed is screaming, terrified and furious, and Mustang is shouting for him when he disappears.

* * *

The first time he sees Alphonse is in the hospital. Marcoh restores his sight and Knox shakes his head at his demand to see the Elrics, but Hawkeye leads him to their room, ever faithful. 

He knew what Ed looked like. Even after months on the run, a fugitive of the state, he hadn’t changed much when he ran into Mustang again under the Third Laboratory. A bit taller, a bit broader, stronger and more angular, but mostly the same. Same black pants, same flashy red coat, same braided hair and golden eyes. New allies - this time with Scar and a group of chimeras - but still the same Fullmetal he knew for years.

Alphonse, though, had always been a suit of armor to Mustang. Seven feet tall with soulfire eyes, sturdy and unwavering. He’d seen the pictures in the Rockbell house, the ones in the Elrics’ childhood home before they destroyed it. He knew Al looked like a neater version of his brother, his hair and eyes only a few shades off from Ed’s, but he stops short when he sees Al in his bed. 

He’s emaciated and thin, long hair hanging around knobbly shoulders, bangs reaching gaunt cheeks. His hospital scrubs hang off his body, in spite of the mending Ed had done to make them fit better. He’s small, smaller than Mustang had ever thought Alphonse Elric could be. He’s skin and bones, with months ahead of him to rebuild muscle and fat before he could think about properly walking. It’s a stark difference to the pillar of strength and optimism he’d known Al to be, the kind boy who apologized for his brother being destructive, the clever alchemist with his own theories and ideas, the brave fighter who protected Hawkeye against Lust and fought Scar and Envy and Gluttony.

But he sees Mustang across the room and smiles and it’s as bright as the soulfire eyes in the suit of armor, impossibly optimistic and joyful and welcoming; it’s undeniably Alphonse, no matter the form, and he doesn’t bother hiding his grin. They’d been working for four years to this goal and he’s not immune to the joy Al is exuding, nor his own pride in their accomplishments. 

He’s seen the Elric brothers hundreds of times over their time associated with the military, from Resembool to East City to Central. Now, with Ed talking about retirement and Al in his real body, he can only hope he’ll see them more as they move on to better and brighter things.

**Author's Note:**

> Me? Thinking too much about Roy's position as the Elric boys mentor figure? It's more likely than you think.  
> Also at some point I realized I was writing in present tense and it's not what I normally do but y'know whatever works. Comments and kudos are appreciated!


End file.
